On November 15th, 2012 the Department of City Planning held a Community Open House at Boricua College for the community that surrounds Melrose Metro North Station. This was the 3rd public event held around this station area and draft recommendations were presented to the community for the first time. City and state agencies as well as community stakeholders were well represented and an interactive format produced valuable input. The project team looks forward to continuing to work with community stakeholders as we refine, prioritize and develop a strategy to best ensure these recommendations are implemented. View the materials presented at the Open House.

Thanks again to the participants from the Melrose community for making the March 10th, 2012 Bronx Sustainable Communities Visioning Workshop a huge success! For those stakeholders who were unable to attend, we have created a recap of each event. Click on the following links to review our Community Workshop Summaries. We look forward to you continued input!

On consecutive Saturdays, March 3rd and March 10th of 2012, the Bronx Sustainable Communities team held interactive workshops around the University Heights and Melrose Metro North Station areas (see flyer: Melrose). The 3 hour workshop was designed as an opportunity for residents and stakeholders to provide early input that will guide the project outcomes as well as an educational opportunity to better understand the concept of Transit Oriented Development. The event was preceded by community tours, on January 28th, which provided an opportunity for the project team to learn more about the community and the community to understand the project. A number of community members attended the workshop to provide valuable insights which transitioned into high level discussions around access, the pedestrian environment and land use. DCP staff, which consisted of multi-disciplinary planners and urban designers, was able to listen and learn about the communities while also serving as an educational resource.

The workshop was designed to be interactive with a focus on community input and education. It began with a brief presentation which framed the Bronx in a regional perspective, provided existing conditions of the station area and then led into an informative explanation of the principles of Transit Oriented Development (TOD). At the conclusion of the presentation attendees were broken out into groups and rotated to three interactive stations.

Each station focused on a different aspect of TOD. However, there was intentional overlap that coalesced around the idea of creating “complete communities.” The first station focused on access and included a discussion of how the Metro North Station is integrated into the community; connectivity between multi-modal transit; and the vehicular environment. At the second station, dubbed the “pedestrian environment”, participants were led on a virtual tour through key pedestrian routes from the Metro North Stations via a large scale, detailed map (shown in pictures below). Participants were asked to comment with numerically coordinated stickers on streetscape elements; urban design; pedestrian features; or other likes/dislikes in the built environment. The setup provided an opportunity for staff to guide participants and help them to understand the importance of the various items that make up a healthy pedestrian environment. Finally the third station focused on land use opportunities or “how the community should grow.” After an overview of land use and zoning around the station; we asked where are the opportunities for density; what land uses does the community need more/less of; and then moved on to a discussion regarding building type through photo boards.

Residents and stakeholders discuss zoning and land use in the community that surrounds the Melrose station.

Once the group had completed each of the 3 stations, they were brought back together and each station leader presented a summary of the findings. These findings were then summarized into common themes and back to the idea of how they tie into more complete communities that maximize transit assets. While a consistent format was used at each of the events unique results were achieved.

The Workshop ran from 1PM to 4PM at Boricua College, DCP Bronx Office Director Carol Samol welcomed a community based group of participants and provided an overview of the role the Bronx has in the region. Through a series of interactive discussions a number of important observations were recorded. Specifically it was identified that the station lacks visibility and feels unsafe; there needs to be a more vibrant pedestrian environment; current bus lines which serve as the main conduit between modes of transit are overcrowded; the need for affordable and market rate housing that is of high quality; and manufacturing – particularly green business has a place in the community.

Our team will be working hard to incorporate all of your comments into a set of recommendations that will reflect the needs of the community. Look for a detailed summary of our workshop on our website.

We thank the hosts, residents and staff who made the events successful. At Boricua College Irving Ramirez and his staff were supportive throughout the day and residents were excited to use the new facility.

We thank all of the attendees from the Melrose community for making the Bronx Sustainable Communities Visioning Forum a huge success!

If you have any comments, or if you are interested in receiving information about the project, please If you have any comments, or if you are interested in receiving information about the project, please contact us. There will be a number of ways to get involved over the next year, so we look forward to hearing from you.